Gardening Express Reviews

Name: Gardening Express
Address: Gardening Express, Chelmsford, Essex
Rating: 1.17

1.2 Rating 1,716 Reviews

3 %

of reviewers recommend Gardening Express

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 1,716 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier
Average Delivery Time	Over A Month
On-time Delivery	Greater than 16%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 31%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat, Telephone
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

Phone:

08448 044 253

Location:

Gardening Express, Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 4UA

Write Your review

Tell us how Gardening Express made you happy

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

Gardening Express 1 star review on 6th April 2025

Anonymous

Gardening Express 1 star review on 6th March 2025

Anonymous

Gardening Express 1 star review on 28th October 2024

Mark Ramsden

Gardening Express 1 star review on 2nd September 2024

Olga

627

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“I bought a collection of fruit trees and one of them died after just one season. As every plant description page has a logo stating '5 Year Guarantee If any plants should fail to establish within 5 years we will replace them free of charge, provided they have been looked after correctly.' and the special deals page has a banner on the top stating '5 Year Guarantee On all hardy plants'. I thought I'd be covered but I wasn't , even though the description page for this collection had the 5 year guarantee logo. turns out when you find the small print page 'We therefore guarantee all hardy nursery stock (Product codes prefixed with the single letters T, P, B or S, and double letters FT) for FIVE YEARS. As far as I can see not many items have these prefixes . Avoid.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Where to start. Order no. 601040644 Having spent over £50 on plants that I expected to be towards the end of the season as they were 'sale items', I'm seriously shocked. I've received one Lavender that looks healthy. Firstly, I don't have any problem with receiving individual deliveries, but unsure why this has to be the case with sale items! The echinacea were a mass of roots with no discernible evidence of a plant albeit some rotting debris and twigs. The helenium, what I could find within the package, were a needle in a haystack. Found some rotting bits. Worst of the delivery. The iris has some signs of life and I've planted those. They did not come as a rhizome, but rather roots with some evidence of life and I want to give them a chance of such. Tiny little things...finger's are crossed. Courier message today said they couldn't deliver, yet I was in and no-one called. They're coming tomorrow with the dahlias, so cannot comment on their condition. Not holding my breath for a good outcome. OWNER: CHRISTOPHER BONNETT STOCK CONTROLLER: ANDY TOWNS Would they like to respond to this Review? Or anyone else? The pictures draw you in with hope of a beautiful garden...albeit in my case at bargain basement prices 🤔 They are promising the dream and delivering a nightmare. Shame on them and the people who are making monies off the back of this inferior enterprise. Are the Trading Standards aware of their malpractices? I shall endeavour to find the answer with them. I'm unsure if their practice of making it almost impossible to deal with a Customer Service interface via telephone is legal. Nor their practice of making the Buyer responsible at their own cost to return items. GE ask for photographs, but how can this be provided in a reasonable timescale if they have no means of contact other than 'chat'. Needless to say, I only saw the 'Reviews' when I tried to establish how to get in touch with GE. Disappointing experience, which I do not intend repeating 😞 I cannot strengthen my review with photographic evidence as I am sure you know what soil and roots look like. Rotting bits too.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Received a notification to say that willow plants had been delivered. no plants have been delivered and the courier is unable to provide evidence of this. wrote to gardening express on their live chat and have been ignored. will have to challenge with my credit card company. nightmare.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Delivery was supposed to be 5-7 working days. I received my order 15 days later. I ordered a mimosa tree of 70-100 cm, it was in reality a very sad looking stick with some floppy leaves. Not an healthy looking plant. The advert advised it would be delivered with plenty of buds, this was just a naked stick I received. Briefly attempted to contact them online, quickly realized there is no way to speak to them and it would be a lost battle to try. Won't be ordering from this company again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I purchased 2 small Standard roses, they arrived 1 looked okay the other looked dead but I planted them both in the same compost, unfortunately only the one that looked okay survived, I tried to contact them eventually I was able to email them and explained the situation asking if they could replace the one that died. I did not get any response so I have decided NEVER to buy plants online”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“DO NOT buy from Gardening Express. They are labelling plants incorrectly and taking consumers for a ride. I purchased some English Munstead Lavender 12 in total. They arrived, and were planted whilst I was away. On return I realised quickly they were not the correct lavender but Lavender Ardeche Blue (the supppier label still in the pot that is printed Lavender Ardeche Blue). The only way to contact them is via a chat service. I spoke to Suzanna who was totally rude and denied that these were the incorrect plant. She was insistent that they were right, even though the label in the pot clearly had ‘Ardeche Lavender’ on the ticket, they had been labelled by Gardening Express as ‘Munstead Lavender’ either by mistake or in an attempt to con people? I sent lots of photographs with links to both plant so they could see the difference and photos of the plant I had received where you can clearly see it isn’t Munstead Lavender. I was abruptly told that if I wasn’t happy then to send the plants back - but at my cost?! It’s totally unreasonable and illegal what they are doing. I am shocked and cross to have been treated with such rudeness!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“It would be a minus score if available.Pathetic very poor specimen plants. Pathetic service.Would certainly not recommend them.Rip off. Order from them at your own risk!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“DO NOT BUY from this company!!! I ordered a magnolia tree it came bare rooted as advertised with no guide to planting.I planted in good compost and kept it.watered but three months later no sign of life. Problem started when I tried to contact them ... absolutely useless I spent over an hour on two occasions trying to contact them but their website makes it impossible to contact them...I gave up and have lost £25 DO NOT BUY from these people you have been warned;”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Purchased bleeding hearts in bud. They looked beautiful in the picture. Mine came 20 days later dumped upside down in the box so all the stalks were snapped right down to the pot. It must have been in the box for ages before I received it as the soil was dry as a bone and the bent stalks were brown and crinkled. I've messaged and messaged two many times to count and sent photos but who can sit for a waiting time of two hours! I keep the computer screen on waiting but it keeps then saying no one was there so they end the call, but I am waiting! I've been waiting all week! They just don't want to speak to me. But think about it, if it's always a two-hour wait to connect to you, dear Lord, how many people have they got complaining in a day, what a rubbish company selling rubbish below par dead plants .”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“My order 600998307, Extra Large Tricolour Hibiscus Tree - Three Colours on One Tree! I paid £59.99 but I have received Half dead plant, I tried to contact several way, but dreadful customer service. There is not any telephone contact, there chat service no one reply. Avoid ! Avoid ! Avoid ! at any cost. Awful company !”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“If I could leave zero stars then I would. Placed an order for multiple items for over £100. After a 10 days I received less than half of my order and one tree was dead. I received an email to say 2 of the items were to follow (in reality it was 6 items that were not delivered) I sent an email to complain about half the order being not received and the dead tree on 11th June. I have received no reply other than an automated email to say to use the live chat facility. I have tried this 4 times. Nobody responds to you. I waited 3 hours and then once i gave up, i noticed someone responded to say your items will follow in 48 hours. It's been 2 more weeks and nothing has arrived. Ive tried the chat again today and asked for a refund. I sat waiting for 2 hours and the same thing happened. Once I gave up and they could see I was inactive on the chat, they replied and said your items will follow. Its completely horrendous customer service, they take your money and do not deliver your items.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Ordered a standard flaming bush £59.99 on Sunday. received a confirmation and receipt of said order within minutes. By the following Friday had heard nothing re my order. Checked online and discovered my order was no further advanced. then read various reviews on this company. So decided to cancel my order. Then found out there is no way to contact this company by phone. Then had to use their online chat support. I've attached a copied transcript of said chat to let you make your own mind up re this company's modus operandi. Just hope I live long enough to get a refund. Gardening Express Bot • Great! Please enter this now and we will connect you to an Agent as soon as possible. • 601042878 View 20/06/2021 Processing • I wish to cancel the order and have my card refuned • as there has been no contact since the order and your site said that the item was in stock on the day it was ordered. • have since looked at your reviews and profile and am not very impressed Donna • Regretfully we are unable to make the requested cancellation to your order as you have asked as your order has reached a stage where it has been processed as outlined in your customer account. Our orders are all processed through a fully automated system which processes orders 24 hours a day, our team also bulk pick and pack the thousands of orders we receive on a daily basis, this therefore makes it impossible and can cause disruption and delays in the processing of your order. We receive hundreds and thousands of orders on a daily basis during our busy season and are doing our very best to ensure we fulfil our lead time obligations to our customers. We would like to thank you for your understanding and we look forward to the packing and the dispatch of your order. Please do bear in mind that we offer a full no quibble refund within 14 days of delivery. So please do feel free to return any unwanted plants to us once you have received them. Our returns and refunds policy can be found on our website here. • you look forward to the picking and dispatch of my order but cannot advise me as to when that might be even though you have had my order since sunday last (it is now friday) • you will forgive me if your response doesn't fill me with confidence. • screen shots taken btw Donna • Our average dispatch dates are 5 working days but in our business periods can be between 7-10 working days. • I do see you are no longer active and online to speak with me and therefore I will close this chat. Please do rest assured my message is here waiting for you should you return. Please do come back to us if you require further assistance. • so when can i reasonably expecd delivery of the product i ordered from you? Donna • Your order should start to be prepared for packing early part of next week. As soon as it has been dispatched, you will receive your tracking information. • I do see you are no longer active and online to speak with me and therefore I will close this chat. Please do rest assured my message is here waiting for you should you return. Please do come back to us if you require further assistance. • Quite obviously unlike Elvis, said product has not yet left the building. So in effect you have just sat on my order for a product that according to your website was in stock at the time of ordering, for the last five days. • you are still replying with Vagaries that leave me no further ahead and that is why i wish to cancel the order. if as you say i am able to cancel my order on delivery, with as you say, my right to a "no quibble refund". i am just trying to save you the cost of the carriage. I think I would be better advised to seek a refund via my bank. Samantha • Hello with regret we are unable to cancel your order at this stage , please do decline the delivery if you wish and we will process a refund once we have received the plants back with us • I do see you are no longer active and online to speak with me and therefore I will close this chat down. Please do rest assured my message is here waiting for you should you return. Please do come back to us if you need further assistance. • Hello, are you there? • Hi Samantha Samantha • Hello • yes i'm still here • the other lady informed me that it would not be either picked or dispatched till early next week so i really don't see the problem Samantha • with regret as outlined on you account you can only cancel your order within 24 hours, this has now gone through our processing system so we are unable to cancel this at this stage • even though the product has neither been picked or dispatched Samantha • please do accept mt apologies for any inconvenience caused if you wish to decline the delivery please do so • i can just imagine how long it would take to get a refund out of you guys which is why i will be taking it up with the bank 10 minutes ago S Samantha • once again please do accept my apologies if you wish to decline the delivery please do advise us once you have done so and we will process a refund, please rest assured if I was able to cancel the order I of course would • i have saved the screen shots of these conversations to forward to my bank to back up my claim Samantha • I am sorry I was unable to assist you today thank you for chatting • not at all Samatha i know your only doing your job as was the other lady Samantha • thank you , please do have a lovely weekend • you too i feel like i've found a couple of pen friends lol bye”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Do not buy from this company!! Plants arrived half the size they were meant to be. Customer services is almost non existent. No phone they only communicate through text message and just tell you they can’t help. Never buy from this company again!! If I could give it zero stars I would have!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I am so disappointed that I didn’t read these reviews before making a purchase! I would not even rate this company one star but have to in order to leave a review! DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY they have taken my reviews off of their website!! Shocking! I have added a photo of what I expected and what I got!”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 24th June 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Appalling company. On Monday I received my gardenia plant which had been purchased as a gift. It arrived with dead and browning leaves that I’ve already had to pick off but more importantly only half a plant. Half had been trimmed away before shipping to presumably get rid of the dead. According to the description it was supposed to arrive in bud ready to bloom. I’ll be lucky if it blooms next year! It’s taken 3 days of constant Tweeting, messaging and using their chat facility to come up with being told plant it in the ground for a month to see if it survives. They didn’t take into account that it was a gift that had been purchased and what was I supposed to do, give them half a gardenia with browning leaves and say gardening express say plant it in the ground for a month and see if it survives. They even tried to insult my intelligence by saying that I’d left it still in the nursery pot. Of course I had I’d been waiting for a response for 3 days as to know what I’d got to do with it!!! Appalling customer care however it seems I’m not alone. There are a few people on Twitter which have been delivered a half dead or even in some cases a fully dead plant and Gardening Express have refused to do anything to rectify the situation. Please think twice before using this company. If your plants arrive in poor condition and not as described they don’t care and won’t give a refund or replacement!”

Gardening Express 1 star review on 23rd June 2021

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Do not buy from this company- they are a shambles! Supplied a dead plant no replacement or refund!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“like previous customers unable to contact order not complete .If you are thinking of buying from this company my advise DON'T”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I have tried to chat on there help and nothing. I have been held on waiting for over an hour and a half when they say reply in under 40 minutes. The pictures below are of the standard three coloured Hibiscus I bought. Its been planted for a month now, and not signs of any growth. The after sales service from this company is abysmal to say the least.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“diabolical experience. 2 dead plants arrived. Whole load of palaver with uploading photos and getting a response from their 'chat' facility. Hardly a 'chat' facility when you wait 2 hours for a response. Finally they agreed to refund one and asked me to wait a few weeks to see if the other revived. No refund arrived. 2nd plant still dead. No response to chasing, no response on 'chat'. Appalling customer service. No other means of contact which I expect is deliberate. Wish I'd looked on here first. I cannot understand how they are still operational. Truly a waste of time and left with a really sad looking corner of the garden - which I had hoped to transform with two statement plants!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“AVOID THIS SCAM, FRAUDULENT OUTFIT LIKE THE PLAGUE! My wife paid the princely sum of £28.96p for a GIANT Hydrangea. A TINY plant upside down in a GIANT and damaged box arrived via Hermes. We rejected the delivery and then discovered that this so-called reputable company doesn't provide any phone numbers at all for customer support and your only hope of obtaining any kind of post-sale communication or a refund is by jumping through a covoluted myriad number of hoops. We then read countless negative and jaw-dropping reviews on Google. We also discovered that Gardening Express has also been the subject of the BBC's Watchdog programme. CAVEAT EMPTOR!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Gardening Express is rated 1.2 based on 1,716 reviews